


Everybody wants a hero (everybody wants someone to lay it all down on the line)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [36]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Nyx Ulric, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: It takes Nyx two days to reach the outpost where Gertrude and the Glaives under her command are being held prisoner.
Relationships: Nyx Ulric & his Glaives
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 9
Kudos: 112





	Everybody wants a hero (everybody wants someone to lay it all down on the line)

**Everybody wants a hero (everybody wants someone to lay it all down on the line)**

* * *

It takes Nyx two days to reach the outpost where Gertrude and the Glaives under her command are being held prisoner.

And he knows that the _logical_ course of action would be to reconnoiter the perimeter of the base and find the most discreet way to slip in without drawing attention to himself right away. He knows that. Really, he does.

Except that's not really how he wants to play this, not when he's had all sorts of nightmarish what-if-I-don't-there-in-time scenarios playing on repeat in his head for the two days it's taken him to get here, not when the magic coursing through his body feels like it's twisting and sparking in response to the riot of emotions churning inside of him, not when his Glaives could be suffering at the hands of some Niflheim torturer _right this very moment_.

So he takes a more direct approach.

He walks up to the front entrance, warping and stabbing his way through the Imperial guardsmen who try to stop him, and then blasts open the doors of the fortress with a lightning bolt that impacts so strongly that it sends a small shock-wave through the air, knocking down the soldiers who'd been lurking inside the entrance hall, waiting to shoot him down.

He carves a bloody path through the outpost, working his way methodically through the first floor until he finds the entrance into the dungeons where they're holding Gertrude and the others captive.

He makes quick work of the soldiers down there, too, and then it's just a matter of searching the pockets of their bodies until he turns up the keys that unlock the cell doors.

"Commander Ulric," Gertrude says, a desperate sort of relief making her voice crack as she sees him, hurtling to her feet with a lurching motion that implies some sort of a leg injury to go along with the gashes and vivid bruises littered across her skin. "You came for us."

"Of course I came," he says, tone rough with suppressed emotion as he unlocks first her door and then the others. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine, sir," she replies, obviously lying because Nyx can _see_ her swaying where she stands, pain and exhaustion clearly weighing her down.

Nyx levels her with a very unimpressed look and is rewarded with a vaguely chagrined expression.

"...I have a broken ankle and possibly a concussion," she admits after another couple seconds of expectant silence.

"And the rest of us aren't much better off," another Glaive puts in, one eye swollen completely shut from the black eye he'd gotten at some point.

Nyx takes a moment to look at his Glaives, _really_ look, and then has to take a slow careful breath and look away because the rage that sparks to life in his chest at the sight of them so battered and wounded makes the magic in him flare up like a forest fire, ferocious and wild.

"Okay," he says after a few seconds, once he's tamped down on the energy thrashing through his system. "So here's what we're going to do: you guys are going to sit tight right here while I clear out the rest of the outpost, and then once it's clear we'll move out. Heading due east from here," he tacks on, "there's a haven we can rest at, so we'll stop there for the night and then move on in the morning to the place where I stashed my car. After that, it'll be a nice smooth journey back to Insomnia."

"Is it a good idea for you to go fighting a bunch of Imperial soldiers by yourself, sir?" another Glaive asks, voice slightly slurred courtesy of a nasty split lip.

Nyx gives a grin that shows perhaps too many teeth to be properly reassuring. "Trust me, kid," he says, "I'll be fine. It's those bastards who should be worried." He glances back over at Gertrude. "You'll be okay holding things together while I clear this place out?"

She nods, grim and resolute. "Yes, sir."

"Alright." He claps her lightly on the shoulder, then ascends the staircase out of the dungeon and proceeds to wreak havoc throughout the rest of the Imperial outpost, warping his way through the remaining floors and tearing through every single Imperial soldier he crosses paths with.

He makes quick work of the outpost's commanding officer as well, hurling a fireball straight into the bastard's face (something Crowe would be proud to see, if she were here) that sends him crashing through the wide window sitting at the back of his spacious office; he lands on the rocky ground three floors down, body contorted at odd angles like a broken doll.

Nyx tosses one last fire ball at the corpse as he leans out the window, just to be absolutely sure that the enemy commander is dead, then ducks back into the room and quickly searches through the room for anything valuable.

He turns up several pieces of correspondence between the asshole he'd killed and other Niflheim commanders, the letters detailing troop movements and supply lines, and he stuffs those into his coat before traipsing back down the stairs to where his Glaives are waiting for him.

"Alright," he says, "let's get the hell out of here, shall we?"


End file.
